1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a half fitting-prevention connector in which a half-fitted condition is positively prevented by a resilient force of a spring member mounted in at least one of a pair of connectors to be fitted and connected together, and the connector, fitted on the mating connector, is positively locked.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 10-301269, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually, various electronic equipments are mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and therefore, naturally, various types of female and male connectors are provided at connection ends of various kinds of wires forming wire harnesses or the like.
Various half-fitting prevention connectors, in which a condition of fitting between female and male connectors, can be detected, have been used, and one such example is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei. 5-81967.
This half-fitting prevention connector comprises a pin-type connector, having a plurality of juxtaposed pin contacts mounted therein, and a socket-type connector having a plurality of juxtaposed socket contacts mounted therein. A movable cover is mounted on the outer periphery of the female connector for movement back and forth. Spring receiving portions are provided at opposite side portions of this movable cover, respectively, and spring member are received respectively in these spring receiving portions, and extend in a forward-rearward direction.
In this half-fitting prevention connector, however, although the half-fitted condition can be prevented by the resilient force of the compression springs, there is encountered a problem that when trying to fit the two connectors together while holding the opposite side surfaces of the movable cover with the hand, the movable cover can not be moved, and therefore the efficiency of the fitting operation is low.
A connector fitting construction for solving the above problem has been proposed by Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 10-50408 and so on.
A female connector 1A (one of two connectors of the half-fitting prevention connector shown in FIG. 13), comprises a housing 3 which includes a connector housing 3a, having a terminal receiving chamber, and an exclusive-use housing (slider housing) 3b formed above the connector housing 3a, the exclusive-use housing 3b forming a slider receiving portion 4 for slidably receiving a slider 10A (described later). Guide grooves 5 for respectively guiding opposite side portions of a body of the slider 10A are formed respectively in opposite side portions of the exclusive-use housing 3b, and a spring receiving portion 3c of a tubular shape is formed at a rear end of each of the guide grooves 5.
A lock arm 6 is formed integrally with the exclusive-use housing 3b at a widthwise central portion thereof, and extends in a fitting direction, the lock arm 6 having an elastic, free end portion. The lock arm 6 has a lock beak 7 formed on an upper surface thereof, and the lock beak 7 has a slanting surface, and a housing lock 8 for retaining engagement with the mating connector is formed on a lower surface of the lock arm at a distal end thereof. Displacement prevention projections 8a for preventing the displacement of the lock arm 6 are formed on the upper surface of the lock arm 6, and face away from the housing lock 8. Side spaces 4a for receiving part of the slider 10A are formed at opposite sides of the lock arm 6, respectively.
The slider 10A includes an elastic slider arm 12 provided at a generally central portion of the slider body 11, and the slider arm 12 has a pair of abutment projections 14 formed respectively at opposite side portions of a lower surface thereof at a front end thereof. The slider includes a pressing portion 15, which is formed on an upper surface thereof at a rear end thereof, and is operated when canceling the fitting connection, and a slide groove 13 formed in the slider arm 12 and the pressing portion 15. Spring retaining portions 16 for respectively retaining compression springs (spring members) 9 are formed respectively at opposite side portions of a lower portion of the slider body 11 at the rear end thereof. A displacement prevention portion 17 for preventing the displacement of the lock arm 6 is formed at the front end of the slider body 11.
As shown in FIG. 14, the male connector (the other connector) 2A includes a housing 21 having a terminal receiving chamber, a pair of stopper projections 22A, which are formed on a surface of the housing 21 so as to abut respectively against the abutment projections 14 of the slider 10A during the connector-fitting operation, a slanting projection 23, which is provided between the stopper projections 22A, and has a slanting surface for flexing the lock arm 6, and an engagement groove 24 which is formed at a rear side of the slanting projection 23 so as to be engaged with the housing lock 8 of the lock arm 6 when the housing lock 8 slides over the slanting projection 23.
When the slider 10A, having the compression springs 9 held respectively on the spring retaining portions 16, is pushed into the slider receiving portion 4 of the female connector 1A from the front side thereof as shown in FIG. 13, the slider body 11 moves along the guide grooves 5 toward the rear end of the female connector. At this time, the abutment projections 14, formed at the lower surface of the slider arm 12, are received respectively in the side spaces 4a formed respectively at the opposite sides of the lock arm 6. Then, the compression springs 9 are received in the spring receiving portions 3c, respectively, and the lock beak 7 is fitted in the slide groove 13, so that the slider 10A is held on the housing 3 for movement between a lock position and a non-lock position. In the non-lock position (which is near to the proximal end of the lock arm 6) of the slider 10A, the slider 10A allows the lock arm 6 to be elastically deformed when the lock arm 6 is brought out of engagement with the mating housing. In the lock position (which is near to the distal end of the lock arm) of the slider 10A, the slider 10A prevents the elastic deformation of the lock arm 6.
In the slider-mounted condition, the slider 10A is urged forward (i.e., toward the lock position) by the resilient force of the compression springs 9 as shown in FIG. 14, and the front end of the pressing portion 15 is retainingly held against the lock beak 7 in the slide groove 13, and the displacement prevention projections 8a, formed at the distal end of the lock arm 6, abut against the displacement prevention portion 17 formed on the lower surface of the slider 10A at the front end thereof, thereby preventing the upward elastic deformation of the lock arm 6.
Then, when the operation for fitting the female and male connectors 1A and 2A together is started as shown in FIG. 14, the stopper projections 22A of the male connector 2A are inserted respectively into the side spaces 4a (see FIG. 13), formed respectively at the opposite sides of the lock arm 6 of the female connector 1A, and these stopper projections 22A abut against the abutment projections 14 of the slider 10A, respectively. From this time on, the resilient force of the compression springs 9 is produced. At this stage, pin contacts 31, mounted in the male connector 2A, are not yet fitted respectively in socket contacts 30 mounted in the female connector 1A.
Then, when the fitting operation further proceeds, the slider 10A is pushed rearward (right in FIG. 15) against the bias of the compression springs 9, so that the housing lock 8, formed at the distal end of the lock arm 6, abuts against the slanting projection 23 of the male connector 2A. If the pushing operation is stopped in this half-fitted condition, the female and male connectors 1A and 2A are returned or moved away from each other (that is, in a disconnecting direction opposite to the fitting direction) by the resilient force of the compression springs 9, and therefore such half-fitted condition can be easily detected.
Then, when the fitting operation further proceeds as shown in FIG. 15, the slider arm 12 of the slider 10A is flexed (elastically deformed) upwardly by the lock beak 7, so that the abutting engagement of the stopper projections 22A with the abutment projections 14 of the slider 10A is canceled. Then, the housing lock 8, formed at the distal end of the lock arm 6, slides over the slanting projection 23, and is engaged in the engagement groove 24, and also the slider arm 12, disengaged from the stopper projections 22A, is returned to the lock position by the resilient force of the compression springs 9.
When the slider 10A is returned to the lock position under the influence of the compression springs 9, the displacement prevention portion 17 of the slider 10A abuts against the displacement prevention projections 8a of the lock arm 6, as shown in FIG. 16. As a result, the lock arm 6 is prevented from elastic deformation, and the cancellation of engagement of the lock arm 6 in the engagement groove 24 is prevented by the slider 10A, thus achieving a double-locked condition. In this condition in which the cancellation of the engagement of the lock arm 6 is prevented by the slider 10A, the female and male connectors are held in a completely-fitted condition, and the contacts 30 are completely connected to the contacts 31, respectively.
This completely-fitted condition can be detected through the sense of touch, obtained when the housing lock 8 of the lock arm 6 slides over the slanting projection 23, and also can be easily detected by viewing the position of the returned slider 10A.
However, in the above connector fitting construction in which the female and male connectors 1A and 2A can be fitted together, even when the housing lock 8 of the lock arm 6 slides over the slanting projection 23 of the mating connector 2A, and becomes engaged with the mating connector, the slider 10A sometimes fails to be returned to the lock position, for example, because of a variation in the manufacturing tolerance, and in such a case, there is encountered an incompletely-fitted condition in which the double-locked condition (in which the cancellation of the engagement of the lock arm 6 is prevented by the slider 10A) can not be achieved.
Therefore, if there occurs such an incompletely-fitted condition in which the slider 10A can not be completely returned to the lock position, the two connectors must be spaced apart (that is, disconnected) from each other by the resilient force of the compression springs 9 in such a manner that the contacts in the two connectors are not electrically connected to each other, thereby telling the operator of this incompletely-fitted condition.
Namely, if the double-locked condition can not be achieved, the engagement of the lock arm 6 must be canceled so as to move the half-fitted female and male connectors 1A and 2A away from each other, and in order to achieve this, the resilient force of the compression springs 9 must be set to a value larger than the force with which the two connectors are connected together, with the housing lock 8 engaged in the engagement groove 24 in the mating connector. Therefore, if the strength of connection, achieved by the engagement of the housing lock 8 in the engagement groove 24, is increased, the resilient force of the spring members 9 becomes so large that a large force is required for fitting the two connectors together, and this has invited a problem that the connector-fitting operation can not be carried out easily.